It's cookie season, which actually means nothing to me. I don't have a big family, I don't attend any cookie swapping parties and the thought of baking all day in my tiny kitchen really doesn't appeal to me. But I'm home and everyone is making treats, so I decided to get on the bandwagon.

Animal crackers, which clearly aren't crackers, is something I've been wanting to make for a few weeks now. I found these adorable little cookie cutters and for a festive touch, I mixed in a few holiday cookie shapes too. Aren't they cute?!

Hope you enjoy and happy baking!

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup sugar
1 egg, room temp
1 1/2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium bowl and set aside.

With a KitchenAid mixer or a hander mixer, beat the butter, sugar and honey together on high speed for about 5 minutes.

Add the egg, vanilla and almond extract and beat for about a minute.

Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until the flour has been absorbed.

Divide dough and form into two equal disks and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

Let the dough stand at room temperature for 5 minutes then remove the plastic wrap. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and sprinkle the top with a bit of flour. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and gently stamp out as many animal shapes as possible from the rolled dough. Transfer the animals to the prepared baking sheets and don’t worry if they’re close as they won’t expand too much.

Sprinkle with a little Turbinado sugar and put in the over for 8-10 minutes, turning tray at the halfway point and removing when the edges turn a golden brown.

Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and continue stamping dough if you have some left over.